LEWISTON, Maine -- The Bates women's lacrosse team outscored No. 5 nationally ranked Wesleyan in the second half but fell short in an 11-7 loss to the Cardinals Saturday in the NESCAC opener for both teams.
Abby Manning scored four goals and dished out one assist to lead Wesleyan (1-0, 1-0 NESCAC) past the Bobcats (1-2, 0-1 NESCAC) in cold conditions on Garcelon Field. Four different players scored more than one goal for the Cardinals, with Julia Gretsky adding two goals and two assists. Johanna Copeland and Emma Richards scored two goals apiece as well.
Bates got two goals each from sophomore Jordyn Tveter (Topsfield, Mass.), junior Margaret Smith (Wilton, Conn.) and junior Summer Dias (West Newton, Mass.), with Dias chipping in two assists.
Tveter gave the Bobcats an early 1-0 lead when she scored with 28:38 left in the first half despite Wesleyan holding a player-up advantage at the time. There were 10 yellow cards issued in the contest, seven against Bates. After Tveter's goal, the Cardinals went on a 6-0 run to take command of the game, with four of those goals coming in player-up situations. Tveter scored again with 6:14 left in the first half to end the Wesleyan run, but the Bobcats found themselves down 6-2.
Gretsky connected with Kate Balicki for the final goal of the game, putting Wesleyan up 7-2 at halftime
Junior Kathryn Grennon (Cape Elizabeth, Maine) opened the scoring in the second half to cut the deficit to 7-3. But the Cardinals scored the next four goals, extending their lead to 11-3 on Manning's fourth goal of the afternoon with 11:55 left in regulation.
Bates refused to go away, shutting out the Cardinals for the rest of the game. Dias took over, scoring two goals in a row and then assisting on a Smith goal with 9:07 left, making the score 11-6. The Cardinal defense held strong though and Bates didn't score again until Dias connected with Smith for the latter's second goal of the contest with 59 seconds remaining.
Allegra Grant made nine saves between the pipes for the Cardinals and first-year Cammie Lavoie (Epping, N.H.) impressed off the bench for Bates, saving four of eight shots on goal over the final 30 minutes.
The Cardinals held a 24-17 edge in ground balls, with Grant, Case Tucker and Olivia Lai recording three each. Junior Avery Prince (Chevy Chase, Md.) recorded three ground balls to pace Bates. Each team committed 21 turnovers and the Bobcats won the draw control battle 12-7.
The Bobcats are back in action next Saturday when they visit Trinity. The game is set to get underway at noon.
Gallery: (2-29-2020) Women's Lacrosse vs. Wesleyan (Phyllis Graber Jensen)
